Bernalillo County Commissioners unanimously voted to declare a state of emergency Wednesday night because of increasing overdoses that are predicted to get even worse. The declaration will allow the county to access more money, give the county manager emergency powers, and formally request assistance from the state.
Nationwide since the beginning of 2024, drug overdose deaths have decreased by almost 35%, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In New Mexico however, they’ve increased by almost 30%, and are predicted to increase another 32% in the next year.
Commissioner Chair Adriann Barboa sponsored the emergency declaration and said it’s aimed at getting more funding to existing resources and expanding treatment and recovery services, such as doubling street outreach.
“We cannot accept preventable overdoses as an inevitable part of life in Bernalillo County. We have the knowledge to identify periods of heightened risk, the tools to reverse opioid overdoses, and evidence-based treatment that can help people recover. Recovery is possible,” she said. “What we need is the commitment to make these interventions accessible when they matter most. Every person deserves a chance to survive, recover, and return to their family and community.”
In particular, Barboa says expanding medication-assisted treatment options at the Metropolitan Detention Center will be a priority for the county.
“An effective response does not begin when someone overdoses; it begins before that person walks out of our jail facility. We should be planning for their safety, their healthcare, and their recovery before release,” she said. “We are, but we can do more and better. We cannot wait for an ambulance to be called.”
People leaving jail are up to 40 times more likely to die of an overdose, and they account for about a quarter of all overdose deaths in the state according to New Mexico Department of Health data.
The remaining commissioners expressed full support for the declaration. Commissioner Eric Olivas, who is running for re-election, said this will give officials the ability to make real progress on something that has been plaguing the state for generations.
“We are on the front lines of this fight like nobody else, and we have generational challenges with poverty, with addiction, all of these things that are compounded by this incredibly powerful drug. So I see this as a recognition of that fact, but it is met with solutions too,” Olivas said. “What this does is enable the county to act more aggressively, more assertively, and to use the resources that we have.”
Law enforcement efforts will also be strengthened. Sheriff John Allen said a new effort dubbed Operation Street Shield will be a long-term, county-wide public safety initiative aimed at drug traffickers and distributors.
Rather than the same old war-on-drugs tactics, he said officers will be less focused on arresting drug users themselves, but rather diverting them into treatment.
“So, no, we’re not doing the same model,” he said.
Allen said his office first started experimenting with that approach during Operation Route 66, a large multi-agency anti-drug trafficking effort that was absorbed into a federal operation late last year. He said that led to more than 75 people getting help with their addiction.
“Overcoming addiction is not just about incarceration,” he said. “It is about having a multifaceted approach to treat this fentanyl epidemic and problem that we have seen here for decades.”
County officials didn’t have details on funding all this, but they did point to potential sources like $7 million in opioid settlement funds, and the Behavioral Health Gross Receipts Tax, which brings in more than $30 million per year.
In 2023, the governor declared similar emergencies deploying the National Guard separately to both Albuquerque, and Rio Arriba County, as well as Española, saying the latter was a hotspot for overdoses. A legislative Finance Committee report later found the declarations had “not changed much.”
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
